Caribbean talks conservation on Branson's island

World News

A statue decorates the pool area of Richard Branson's property on Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands, Friday, May 17, 2013. Political and business leaders gathered here Friday to back an initiative aimed at expanding protection for the Caribbean's imperiled coasts and waters. Delegations from the participating governments signed a communique pledging to establish a framework for a regional approach to coastal conservation, including “increasing considerably the number of marine protected areas.” They also said they recognized an urgent need to protect sharks and rays, and vowed a “dramatic acceleration in the transition from fossil fuels to alternative energy sources over the next five years.” (AP Photo/Todd VanSickle)

More from this Slideshow

0 of 0

Caribbean talks ... A statue decorates the pool area of Richard Branson's property on Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands, Friday, May 17, 2013. Political and business leaders gathered here Friday to back an initiative aimed at expanding protection for the Caribbean's imperiled coasts and waters. Delegations from the participating governments signed a communique pledging to establish a framework for a regional approach to coastal conservation, including “increasing considerably the number of marine protected areas.” They also said they recognized an urgent need to protect sharks and rays, and vowed a “dramatic acceleration in the transition from fossil fuels to alternative energy sources over the next five years.” (AP Photo/Todd VanSickle)
Merkel and Franc... Pope Francis meets with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a private audience at the Vatican, Saturday, May 18, 2013. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, Pool)
Hot off the pres... Actor Sonam Kapoor, left, poses for photographers as she arrives for the screening of Young & Beautiful at the 66th international film festival, in Cannes, southern France, Thursday, May 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
SKorea says NKor... A South Korean man watches a TV news reporting missile launch conducted by North Korea, at a Seoul Train Station in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, May 18, 2013. North Korea fired three short-range guided missiles into its eastern waters on Saturday, a South Korean official said. It routinely tests such missiles, but the latest launches came during a period of tentative diplomacy aimed at easing tensions. The letters at a screen read " Fired three short-range guided missiles." (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Venezuela's mili... In this May 14, 2013 photo, a National Guard soldier frisks a man outside his car at a checkpoint that is part of the "Secure Homeland" initiative in Petare, one of the most dangerous neighborhoods of Caracas, Venezuela. Since Monday, this scene is playing out day and night at dozens of military checkpoints set up here in the socialist government's latest attempt to control the oil-rich country’s pandemic of violence. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
AP PHOTOS: Cuba'... In this May 15, 2013, Yanolis Carrero, 27, right, a gay transvestite artist known as "Blanquita," performs on a table top during a drag show at the Fashion Bar Havana, in Havana, Cuba. A week of drag shows, colorful marches and social and cultural events in Havana culminates Friday with celebrations of the International Day Against Homophobia. Gays were persecuted for decades after the 1959 Cuban Revolution, sometimes sent to grueling rural work camps along with others considered socially suspect by the Communist government. But there has been a gradual shift away from macho attitudes, and Fidel Castro himself has publicly regretted the mistreatment of people seen as different. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Egyptians target... Abdel-Nour, the father of 24-year-old school teacher Dimyana Abdel-Nour, who is accused of insulting Islam while teaching fourth graders history of religions, speaks on the phone to a live television show about his daughter from his home in southern Egypt's ancient city of Luxor, Egypt, Thursday, May 16, 2013. Freed on Tuesday on a 20,000-pound (nearly 3,000 dollars) bail after nearly a week in detention, Abdel-Nour is due to stand trial later this month. Criminalizing blasphemy was enshrined in the country's new Islamist-backed constitution adopted in December. (AP Photo/Ibrahim Zayed)
Boats carrying f... Internally displaced Rohingya boys shiver in rain in a makeshift camp for Rohingya people in Sittwe, northwestern Rakhine State, Myanmar, ahead of the arrival of Cyclone Mahasen, Tuesday, May 14, 2013. The U.N. said the cyclone, expected later this week, could swamp makeshift housing camps sheltering tens of thousands of Rohingya. Myanmar state television reported Monday that 5,158 people were relocated from low-lying camps in Rakhine state to safer shelters. But far more people are considered vulnerable. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
Tale of Mexican ... From left, actor Armando Espitia, director Amat Escalante and actress Andrea Vergara pose for photographers during a photo call for the film Heli at the 66th international film festival, in Cannes, southern France, Thursday, May 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
Bombs targeting ... Iraqis gather at the scene of a bomb attack in Baqouba, northeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, May 17, 2013. A bomb killed dozens of people at a Sunni mosque in central Iraq, hitting worshippers as they were emerging from Friday prayers, security officials said. The attack in Baqouba comes after two days of attacks, many in Shiite districts, left tens of people dead. Attacks against Sunni mosques have also been on the rise recently, raising fears that the country is slipping into a new round of sectarian violence. (AP Photo/Adem Hadei)
US, Turkey proje... President Barack Obama smiles as Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during their joint news conference in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Thursday, May 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Rights groups: S... This citizen journalism image provided by Edlib News Network, ENN, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows anti-Syrian regime protesters holding a placard with a caricature of Syrian President Bashar Assad during a demonstration in Kafr Nabil, in Idlib province, northern Syria, Friday, May 17, 2013. Rights activists have found torture devices and other evidence of abuse in government prisons in the first Syrian city to fall to the rebels, Human Rights Watch said in a report Friday. (AP Photo/Edlib News Network ENN)
Syrian troops fl... This Tuesday, May 14, 2013 citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows the mother of a Syrian rebel cleaning a rifle, in Aleppo, Syria. Activists say Syrian rebels have detonated two car bombs outside the main prison in the northern city of Aleppo and are trying to storm the facility, where hundreds of regime opponents are believed to be held. (AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center AMC)